Girls thrive at Stone Ridge

Stone Ridge offers an excellent educational program designed to nurture and inspire young women to find themselves, develop their gifts, and gain confidence in the knowledge that their lives have meaning and purpose.

Last November, Lauren Cerretani ‘19 fulfilled a lifelong goal of committing to play Division 1 lacrosse at George Washington University – the school Lauren had always dreamed of attending and playing for. At her standing-room-only National Letter of Intent signing ceremony, administrators, family and classmates spoke of how Lauren was one of those players and students who left an indelible and extremely positive mark on everyone around her.

To realize her dream, Lauren hasn’t traveled the easiest road. Nearing the end of her sophomore season, she tore her ACL. All who have faced this obstacle know the feelings and thoughts that this "may have been too much to overcome," but not for Lauren. She rose up and decided to show up everyday for her teammates and friends attending practices and games. She also would be seen in the Andreas Center quietly but regularly rehabbing and working out to ensure, when she did get clearance, she would not have to wait another day. In short, she was completely immersed with her teammates and coaches working hard to get a little better each day. In the athletic office this is known as “The Lauren Way.”

Lauren's signing ceremony became a Goal IV (the building of community as a Christian value) moment for Stone Ridge. For those who have played with Lauren, had class with her, or simply gotten to know her in the hallways of the Upper School, they all spoke so eloquently about how she had positively impacted them.

This spring Lauren will complete her journey on the field for the Gators. Off the field she will continue as a leader of the Stone Ridge Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Her role is co-leading a used equipment drive to benefit those less fortunate. All of us who have been around Lauren know that this is par for the course – “The Lauren Way!”

Good luck this season, Lauren, and at George Washington University. We are so proud of you!

For the first time in Stone Ridge history, a Gator diver has won the diving competition at the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving championships – the meet affectionately known as "Metros." Metros is the culminating swimming and diving championship meet for all public and private schools in the greater Washington, D.C. area, including schools from across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Metros represents the most competitive high school swimming meet of the season, and for Genevieve Thibodeau '20, the competition was not competition. Genevieve's cumulative 11-dive score bested more than 50 other divers at the meet!

The past four weeks have been busy for Genevieve, collecting a lot of hardware throughout a historic championship season for both herself and the swimming and diving program. At the National Catholic High School Championships in January, which the Gators won for the first time in program history, Genevieve placed second. Since then, motivated by the team victory, she has not looked back – winning both the Independent School League and Washington Metropolitan Private School League Championship meets preceding her victory at Metros. In doing so, Genevieve also became the first Stone Ridge diver to ever win three individual championships in one season.

Commenting on motivation to be the best she could be and already looking forward to next year's season, Genevieve stated, "The team dynamic makes going to meets lots of fun instead of feeling like an obligation. Everyone is so supportive and to have a team that is there pushing you to do your best makes all the difference. Personally, I am very excited to come back next year coming off so much of the team success and I know I'm not the only one. I think that having such a great season this year is really motivating because it shows us how much we can achieve together."

The Stone Ridge community is incredibly proud of Genevieve's accomplishments this season. Of being Genevieve's teammate, fellow diver Mary Fromm '20 stated, "Genevieve's humility with all of her success this season has been incredibly inspiring as she leads by example, laying a foundation for future Gators and a strong diving program for years to come."

Although she won't be competing for Stone Ridge until next winter, Genevieve is already busy training fo upcoming USA Diving competitions with regional, zone, and national competitions taking place between April-June. Stay tuned as she continues to compete across the country - we know that she will continue with great success!

Freshman Katherine Khramtsov '22 scored seven goals to help lead Stone Ridge's hockey team to their first Mid-Atlantic Girls Hockey League championship. The Gators defeated Georgetown Visitation 9-5 on Friday, February 8, to cap an undefeated season. Coach Mary Carpenter's game plan of "hard work, taking it to the net, getting rebounds, and playing smart," paid off. The Gators had a great showing of fan support, packing the Gardens Ice House in Laure, MD. The SR ice hockey team only formed in 2013 and has been growing with the number of players and skill level every year. Way to go Gators! Read more from The Washington Post. #Gatorstrong

Kim Ross '20 earned the Girl Scouts prestigious Gold Award. Kim had to identify and issue, investigate it, build a team, create a plan, present the plan and gather feedback, take action, and educate and inspire. Kim created a video to educate the Stone Ridge community about the benefits of dog adoption and to address negative perceptions about shelter animals. From creating this idea to completing the final project, it took Kim over 100 hours of work. A significant amount of time was spent filming and editing the interviewees, including veterinarians, someone from an animal shelter, and dog adopters. SR teacher, Mr. Robertson and his wife, adopted a dog and they are a key feature in the video. Kim showed her video, Adopt Don't Shop, at Stone Ridge on January 17.

Kim said, "[T]he experience was rewarding, and I learned a lot about video production and editing. With this experience, my love and passion for animal rights increased greatly. These animals desire help from the community and there are so many ways for us to contribute, whether it is donating money or time to a local shelter, spreading awareness or giving a dog a second chance and loving home through adoption."

Kim would like to thank the Stone Ridge family for its support, Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, and Sarah Myhre.

Congratulations to the Middle School swim team who finished 4th out of 14 teams in the ISL Championships. Our Gator of the meet was Erin Gemmell '23. Erin placed first in the 100 and 200 freestyles, breaking both meet records. Erin received a standing ovation after her 1:48:1 time in the 200 free, beating Katie Ledecky's 2011 record of 1:54:4. #Gatorstrong

The Upper School "Gators Halt Hunger" SCG, the Middle School Student Council, and the Social Action Student Advisory Board organized a food drive to benefit Capital Area Food Bank. Food was collected at Lower and Middle School morning drop-offs and in the Upper School entrance. Maggie Cavanaugh '19 said, "With the generosity of our community, I could not fit all of the donations into my family minivan. I had to arranged a pickup by CAFB." Stone Ridge girls helped load the truck when it arrived. CAFB called to congratulate Stone Ridge on a job well done and to tell us we donated 1335 lbs of food!

Using her Lacrosse Skills, Paige Kenny '22 Takes a Service Trip to Jamaica

In the spirit of Goal III of Sacred Heart education, Paige Kenny '22 and her family traveled over winter break to Kingston, Jamaica with a group of volunteers to educate and coach the Jamaican Women's Lacrosse U19 National Team players and coaches. Volunteers were organized through an organization called MaxFields to promote the sport of lacrosse, which was introduced in Jamaica just in the last few years.

During the week, the volunteers held a coaching and referee seminar. With lacrosse slowly gaining popularity in Jamaica, many of the Jamaican coaches and referees are not completely aware of the rules. During the seminar, the volunteers answered questions and went over basic rules regarding checking, body position, and sportsmanship.

Off the lacrosse field, the volunteers visited children's homes for kids with disabilities or who were abandoned by their parents. On her visit to one children's home, Paige noted that human touch was clearly missing from the children's lives. "Something that stood out to me was that when the babies and toddlers woke up, they wouldn't put their arms up to be picked up because they weren't used to being held often," noted Paige.

On a separate occasion, the group traveled to Mustard Seed, Jamaica, to visit a home for boys aged 14-20 who have AIDS. After this visit, Paige recalled, "The boys were so sweet and funny, and I loved talking to them. Both of these children's homes made me realize how fortunate I am to have a loving family and a home back in the United States."

In regards to lacrosse, Paige observed a lack of supplies, which we can so often take for granted. "One thing that I noticed was that some of the girls on the team did not have goggles, mouth guards, or socks. All of this equipment is so easily available to us, and we really do not realize how lucky many of us are at Stone Ridge to have multiple pairs of goggles and extra sticks."

Paige described the trip as an opportunity of a lifetime. "The girls on the U19 team are some of the most thoughtful and hilarious people I've ever met. Every day when I got to camp, they would give me a hug and ask how my morning was. The girls were coachable and they helped each other on the field. They all worked so hard and it was clear that they wanted to improve their skills. The last day of camp was bittersweet. After our last scrimmage, the players from the boys camp and the girls camp started throwing water balloons at all of the coaches. Then, the coaches surprised the players with donated items from the US - including pinnies from many US college teams - which they loved!"

With girls lacrosse growing in Jamaica, Paige is excited to return in future years to help more players and coaches and watch the adoption and skill of the sport progress. Paige encourages anyone who is interested in joining her on this service trip in the future to let her know as the program is always looking for more volunteers and coaches.

Stone Ridge admires the efforts of Paige and her family in Jamaica, intertwining sport and social action in the world. Well done!

While many Stone Ridge students utilize the holiday break to spend time with family and friends and relax before coming back to school, Stone Ridge senior Lauren Ferridge ‘19 had a unique experience that involved very little relaxation. A member of the SR Field Hockey and Swimming programs, Lauren is also an accomplished rugby player outside of Stone Ridge. Over the winter break, Lauren was invited to San Diego’s Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center to participate in the USA Rugby Girls High School All-American Winter Camp. To gain an invitation to the camp, players were scouted at Regional Cup tournaments throughout 2018.

The All-American camp took place over five days made up of intense training and an intra-squad match. The camp also served as an identification and development camp for future national team rosters. Lauren was one of three Maryland players and sixty girls from across the country in the under-18 division.

Although not her first national camp, Lauren reflected on being nervous to compete on such a high-level this time around, stating, “I was definitely nervous but learned new skills and became more confident competing in a high pressure environment. It was a valuable and exciting experience in which I was able to learn a lot, become more confident competing in highly competitive situations, and meet a bunch of new ruggers from all over the country, which is always fun.”

SR Athletics is so proud to see Lauren excel on the national level and we can’t wait to follow her success next year as she continues to play rugby at Dartmouth College.

Gators capture National Catholic High School Championship crown for the first time in program history!

The Stone Ridge Swimming and Diving program took home the National Catholic High School Swimming and Diving Championship this past weekend for the first time in program history. Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore hosted the 83rd National Catholic Championship, open to qualifying swimmers and divers from any Catholic high school across the country. After a second-place team finish in 2018 to the Immaculate Heart Academy (New Jersey), the Gators bested 27 female teams from seven states that competed in the 2019 meet. Stone Ridge finished first or second in eight of the twelve events enroute to accumulating 98 more points than the first runner-up Notre Dame Preparatory (Maryland).

Most notably, at the conclusion of the meet, Phoebe Bacon ‘20 earned the Girls Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet award after winning individual titles and setting pool and meet records in both the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke events, as well as being a member of the winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle Stone Ridge relay teams.

Our swimmers weren’t the only ones receiving awards. Stone Ridge Head Coach Bob Walker was given the 2019 Girls Swimming Coach of the Year award at the conclusion of the meet. In reflecting on the team accomplishment, Coach Bob noted how important of a step this was in the growth of Stone Ridge Swimming & Diving, stating, “Winning National Catholics was the next step in putting Stone Ridge on the map as the top choice for girls that are looking to excel in both the classroom and in the pool. Katie Ledecky ’15 best exemplified what a Stone Ridge swimmer could be several years ago, and all of our girls have lived up to her example as model student-athletes. We will use the momentum from this win to continue to build upon the strength of our program.”

In summarizing the meaning of this team victory, senior captain Meaghan Carey ’19 stated, “Winning National Catholics was an amazing accomplishment and showcased how hard our team has worked this year. Our cheering and energy helped carry the team to victory at National Catholics and we hope to carry the same energy and enthusiasm through to the ISL Championship on Friday and the rest of the championship meets this season.”

With little time to celebrate the excitement of the National Catholic Championship win, the Gators are already back to work in the pool to prepare for their remaining league and Washington metro area championship meets in the coming weeks. …. GO GATORS!!!